campus press notes

Thanksgiving was spent eating, sleeping, and watching West Wing and James Bond marathons. Campus Press Notes shall return on Monday.

"Student Group Lists Professors It Considers Too Politicized" was in Monday's Washington Post.

Gov turns UMass pay raise into one-time bonus, writes the Boston Herald's Elisabeth Beardsley: "University of Massachusetts faculty members are in line for a whopping 15 percent pay raise - with a major catch that's left them howling - after Gov. Mitt Romney signed an $81.1 million emergency spending bill yesterday..." The Fitchburg Sentinel has a bit.

MIT to temporarily shut down campus operations, cut costs due to endowment woes: "The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will shut down parts of its campus over the holidays, and cut spending and jobs to close a looming budget shortfall spurred in part by lower-than-expected returns on its endowment..."

UMass Boston was going to have a campus-wide shutdown, but the proposal, after several months of negotiation between the unions and the administration, was killed by the president. More on that in next week's Mass Media.

The Boston Globe yesterday editorialized on the Heights' battle with Boston College over publishing restrictions.

AP: "American college students show broad interest in spirituality, but their involvement in formal religious activity sags while on campus, a new study by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute says..."

Student sues Mo. university over its 'restrictive' speech zone policies, from a Student Press Law Center press release.

Rebel Yell columnist Alexander Marriott points us to a Las Vegas Review Journal article that shows that troubles continue to plague the campus paper:

"The holiday season has done nothing to quell the chaos at UNLV's student newspaper, as two more people affiliated with the Rebel Yell have been fired in the past week.

On Friday, newly appointed interim Editor in Chief Ellen Kominsky fired Mary Hausch, the newspaper's faculty adviser of more than a decade. The Rebel Yell advisory board then fired Kominsky on Monday..."

The new interim editor will be the Rebel Yell's third this semester.

Marriott, the subject of some controversy himself earlier this semester when he wrote a column on Christopher Columbus, said in an AIM conversation that the Rebel Yell "continues to deteriorate."

The faculty advisor will be getting her job back, he says, next semester.

"I'm not sure, I don't know all the details, there is only one more issue this semester and her contract needs to be worked out anyway, my guess is they will just wait until they get a new, and dependable, person in the EIC job," he said when asked why she wasn't immediately hired back.

Several other University of Tennessee students are blogging about the controversy, in which a student group, accused of a liberal bias by a campus newspaper columnist, apparently sent internal e-mails back and forth calling the columnist racial names and making threats against his life.

Along with Adam Groves, there's also Aaron Chapman and Bethany Stover.

Stover notes this: "[I]nidividual or group of individuals plastered the Humanities building on campus with bright flyers stating, 'Demand Responsible Journalism: Boycott the Daily Beacon'. Other flyers along the same lines claimed that the Daily Beacon was a 'conservative rag' and incinuated that Fox News ran the Daily Beacon..."

The College Republicans are involved as well, though some say that they didn't help the situation, when they wrote on their website: "Part of the reason why anti-American communist pinkos have such a strong voice on campus is simply because they are persistent. While we are busy being productive citizens, doing things like working and showering, they are diligently and consistently whining..."

A fellow campus columnist, John Brown, writes on the controversy in today's Daily Beacon, stating that he is not advocating for campus speech codes, but a "member should be held accountable for his words, as should the Issues Committee's [the student group] faculty advisor."

"Boston College has asked a school newspaper to refuse ads for birth control, alcohol and tobacco, prompting protests from the editor and board of the student paper.

The Jesuit college made the request to the independent newspaper The Heights in September as part of the terms of a new lease. The 32-year-old newspaper's yearly lease for a 20-foot by 30-foot basement office ends at the end of December..."

A more informative peice at Boston magazine:

Since the Heights established its autonomy three decades ago, the university has watched closely over its shoulder; the prohibition against accepting ads from abortion clinics, in fact, dates back to 1978. But never before has the school gone this far. In addition to the bans on ads from liquor makers and tobacco companies, Boston College would require the Heights to adopt a code of ethics written by the university (the newspaper points out that it already has one), offer campus organizations at least a 50 percent discount on advertising (a move that would slash revenues by almost 15 percent), hire an ombudsman (the editors say they'll consider it), appoint a board of directors (done), and establish a faculty advisory board (no way). As the paper argues in its written response to the lease proposal: "The Heights cannot agree to this provision because it would dismantle the wall of separation between the Heights and the administration."

The administration, from the sound of both articles, appears to be more than annoyed that this dispute came into the public light...

Romenesko pointed us to the Boston magazine article, but also links to an article on the situation at Texas A & M University, where student journos will possibly get a "revamped" degree.

The Crimson editorial board criticizes Harvard's president for not taking a stand on the Solomon Amendment: "Last week, University President Lawrence H. Summers reiterated his support for equal opportunity in the military. 'We all look forward to the day when any American regardless of their sexual orientation as regardless of their race or religion can serve in the armed forces,' he told The Crimson. Yet he admitted that he did not intend to back these principles with legal action on the part of Harvard University..."

MORE: AP has the story.

The Justice: "Stirring a range of loud opinions and protest across campus, the controversial Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes delivered a lecture Tuesday in front of a packed crowd in Sherman Function Hall..."

Fallout from Pipes attending included a student admitting "full responsibility Saturday for posting a flier around campus last week following Daniel Pipes' visit that mocked a 'one thought at a time campaign' by Student Union and Coordinator of Diversity Nathanial Mays..."

Justice columnist Bezalel Stern comments on the protests.

Columnist Raphael Rosenblatt writes on the flier, and includes a picture of it, as well.

There are letters to the editor.

And the Justice editorial board recaps the semester.

Alum Steve Silver throws this out there.

And Jawsblog's Josh, a supporter of Pipes, will have more tonight.

Daily Free Press' Jennifer Small writes, "Boston University may not have an official response anytime soon to a letter from a lawyer for note-selling company Beantown Notes rejecting the university’s charge that the business is illegal, BU Associate General Counsel Robert Smith said this week..."

Tufts Daily: "After a detailed self-study and peer evaluation, Tufts received its re-accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)...

The purpose of accreditation is twofold, according Charles Cook, Director of NEASC's Commission on Higher Education. First, it serves to 'give public insurance of institutional quality,' and second, as a 'self-reflective exercise' it is a guide for future improvement..."

UMass Boston is currently starting up its self-study, which NEASC will use as a guide when it comes to the university in April 2005.

Interestingly, the other day the managing editor, while cleaning up the archives in preparation for our move into the new Campus Center, came across old articles from the last time the university got accredited, in 1995. Included in the files was the reporter's notes, as well as the incredibly thick accreditation itself. So it looks like I'll have some reading to do over the Thanksgiving break...

"The Palo Alto city council voted unanimously at last night’s meeting to seek legislation to allow LaDoris Cordell, vice provost for campus relations, to sit on the council without jeopardizing the city’s contracts with Stanford," writes the Stanford Daily's Stephanie Condon.

Earlier mention here.

SEE ALSO: Congress to explore textbook pricing:

"In recent years, the costs of textbooks, on top of tuition hikes and an increasing cost of living, has strained the finances of Stanford students and their families. Following November’s news that college textbooks are twice as expensive for American students than their foreign counterparts, Congressman David Wu, a member of the House Education committee, has introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to require an investigation of the college textbook industry’s pricing practices..."

Daily Bruin: "A box of tissues, cough syrups, pain relievers, hot tea and a liquid diet – it's an all too familiar, miserable scene that has struck hundreds of students during the last weeks of the quarter and right into finals.

Nationwide, flu activity has occurred earlier and stronger than usual this season, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention..."

Ugh, don't I know it. A lost an entire week's worth of work 'cause of the flu. It didn't help that I was on the verge of burnout, either. And to top it off, the doctor was all out of shots (not that I was thrilled with the thought of getting one).

Still fighting residual sniffles and all that, but it's already swept through a lot of places, from what I hear.

"Just four days after the university lifted a spending ban on the “No on 54” campaign funds, the Graduate Assembly has found its pockets sealed yet again because of an ASUC Judicial Council mandate yesterday," writes the Daily Californian.

"The council froze the $31,000 improperly allocated by the assembly for a campaign against Proposition 54 and imposed a gag order barring ASUC officials from publicly discussing the case..."

The Daily Cali has an editorial.

"The Massachusetts House and Senate overwhelmingly demonstrated their continued support for the University of Massachusetts last Wednesday by enacting a supplemental budget, providing $38 million in additional funding to the five campuses," writes the Daily Collegian's Mike Travis.

"The supplemental spending bill includes $34 million to allow the state to begin honoring long-delayed raises for teachers and other workers at all five University of Massachusetts campuses..."

SEE ALSO: A columnist comments on bias in the media.

And student government turmoil that's been brewing since the start of the semester.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation Monday released a bulletin stating that for the first time in several decades, state spending on prison has outpaced that of higher education.

"Although the importance of public higher education to Massachusetts' economic future is widely recognized, state support for its 29 university and college campuses has been wildly inconsistent," writes the organization, pointing readers to a chart adjusted for inflation. "In a financially driven pattern that was first established in the state fiscal crisis of the late 1980s, appropriations for higher education have sustained two rounds of steep cuts - $222 million, or 29 percent, in fiscal 1988-1992 and $293 million, or 27 percent, in 2001-2004... In each case, the cuts wiped out much of the increases of the previous decade; after adjusting for inflation, the latest cuts have reduced state support to approximately the level of thirty years ago."

The report continues: "At the same time, higher education spending as a percent of the total budget has dropped from 6.5 percent in 1988 - the previous peak in higher education funding - to less than 3.5 percent in 2004. This year's state budget for higher education, including appropriations for the campuses and student financial aid, totals only $816 million, compared to $830 million for prisons and jails..."

On UMass, whose funding is 23% today, the MTF says, "Despite repeated financial shocks, higher education officials have been able to stregthen academic programs, improve accountability, and lower student costs, especially in the last decade. Unfortunately, the recent controversy over who should lead the University of Massachusetts - which dominated the 2004 budget debate - obscured not only the gains that have been made throughout the system but also the huge cuts in appropriations at every institution. The resulting dissarray in the system is profound, with campuses unable to honor previously negotiated faculty pay raises, long overdue capital improvements put on hold, entire academic programs jeopardized by the impacts of early retirement incentives that were intended as a less painful alternative to layoffs, and tens of thousands of students and parents scrambling to deal with unexpected hikes in tuitions and fees..."

The second half deals with the prison system and its costs. The entire bulletin can be obtained here, in pdf form.

AP has an article up.

State House News Service has this: "The surge in spending on prisons and jails is a nationwide trend, and states strapped for cash are beginning to more seriously question 'tough on crime' policies such as lengthy mandatory minimum sentencing, according to the report.

States are also increasingly restoring early parole and treatment plans for some drug offenders..."

MORE: The other week State Senator Brian Joyce came to UMass Boston for a talk, and had this to say:

"We've seen a retreat. We've seen the funding for this university the last couple years not made the priority that it has been in the past... And I think, again, that's not just poor social policy. It's poor economic policy..."

AND MORE: It made the front page of the Boston Herald today: "For the first time in decades, Massachusetts is poised to spend more on convicts than colleges - pumping millions into prisons while cutting back on cash for public higher education classrooms..."

And the Globe's Marcella Bombardieri had an article.

Three women have been selected to lead The Harvard Crimson for the first time in the newspaper's 131-year history, The Crimson announced Friday...

SEE ALSO: The Crimson editorial board writes on the Hampton U. incident:

"The American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) made an important decision last week to withhold a $55,000 grant from Hampton University in Virginia after the school confiscated 6,500 copies of the student newspaper, the Hampton Script. With this move, a strong message was sent to Hampton's the student press must not be censored, even when it is politically convenient..."

How Appealing points to the story of "Student Will Not Be Disciplined for Memos."

"The Harvard football team crushed Yale yesterday in New Haven but for many it was the balmy weather, a bomb scare and the usual beer-soaked fun that marked the 120th playing of The Game," Claire Friedman for the Crimson.

Cal Cuts Down Stanford, writes the Daily Cali.

"Big disappointment," is the Stanford Daily's headline.

Football blows chances, falls to Harvard 37-19, writes Alex Hetherington for the Yale Daily.

MORE: Cal Wins Big Game 28-16 [Daily Cali]

Bomb Scare at Yale Threatens to Delay Game [Crimson]

School spirit explodes for The Game [Yale Daily, probably rethinking that headline right about now]

Missed opportunities haunt Cardinal [Stanford Daily]

A Virgin Mobile ad for cell phones in the campus newspaper stirred some folks at the University of New Hampshire last week, enough for the paper, The New Hampshire, to put out an editorial.

Two letter-writers describe the ad: "The ad depicts the shiny body of a tautly thin, headless (!) woman holding a cellular phone across the front of her hips just enough to cover her vagina. The slogan reads, 'A gift from somewhere near the heart.'"

They go on to voice complaints: "This is not to blame the model, her loved ones, or the photographer Šnot EVEN Virgin Mobile! This is to point out a culture that says it¹s A-OK to use women as ornaments, exploit our bodies to sell products, and use this same model (white, hairless, and grossly thin‹childlike??) over and over again to do it is not all right. These companies are doing exactly what we are telling them to do: SEX SELLS. Why is the TNH buying???"

The editorial board had spent an hour the night before publication debating the ad, and ultimately decided to publish it, writing in their editorial, "The advertisement section of our newspaper does not reflect the opinions of the products advertised or the way in which it is presented. The ad pages are forums for the businesses to express their ads in the context that they choose to represent themselves with, which in many cases is the notion that 'sex sells.' And in the end, it is the readers that must use his or her own discretion when viewing an ad."

The Mass Media, along with other campus newspapers, printed the ad as well. I haven't heard of any complaints, though we were anticipating some.

Ads are a touchy subject on college campuses. Witness the skirmishes over the "CampusTruth" ads at Stanford and Yale.

The Mass Media experienced a brief controversy over an anti-abortion insert earlier this year. Instead of tossing it into the garbage where it no doubt rightfully belonged, some students complained that the newspaper had taken money from such a group and inserted it.

There was an editorial about it, as a result.

Ads from student groups have also been subject of complaint (mainly about flyers advertising the literary magazine), but that's a separate matter for a separate post.

Nearly a year after a damaging controversy, the University of Tennessee campus is quickly becoming embroiled in another one.

Nick of Duck Season sent an e-mail that points to an Instapundit (who's a professor there) post on it, writing, "an organization for bringing speakers to campus on a non-partisan basis is being accused of being excessively partian in their choice of speakers, as well as having internal emails or memo's that contain death threats and racial remarks about the UT College Republicans."

From the Knoxville News Sentinel: "University of Tennessee officials said Thursday that they are reviewing a series of e-mails between members of the student organization that selects campus speakers following complaints that some of the e-mails contained racial slurs and threats against a conservative columnist for the student newspaper..."

It started, as most of these things tend to, in a column in the student paper.

There's an article, and then a follow-up column.

UT blogger Adam Groves floods the zone.

AP: "One out of four college students in a nationwide survey was unable to name any of the freedoms protected by the First Amendment, according to a free-speech watchdog group.

...Even among campus administrators who were surveyed, from presidents to assistant deans, 11 percent couldn't name any specific First Amendment rights, the survey indicated..."

More than 7 in 10 (72%) administrators admit they do not know which freedom the First Amendment addresses first before addressing the other freedoms. More private (75%) than public college administrators (65%) report they do not know which freedom the First Amendment addresses first before addressing the other freedoms. While, two in ten (22%) private and 33% of public colleges report they do know which freedom is addressed first...

Summary of the report here.

The actual report's here (PDF). The press release.

And a report on a survey of college students, whose knowledge is as dismal's as their administration's (PDF also).

I remember being shocked at a Pew poll from not too long ago, that said most people thought that First Amendment went too far. It was in the Boston Herald. I'll have to hit Lexis Nexis for more.

[via volokh]

I'm not a huge sports fan -- I only go to games for a social activity -- but it should be noted that several rivals -- Harvard and fair Yale; Stanford and UC Berkeley -- will be facing off against each other this weekend.

MORE: The Harvard Crimson has an editorial on it.

Big Game ticket sales go down as prices increase, writes the Stanford Daily.

Yale Daily writes that "Game traditions are contant across all time zones."

Kegs Reappear For New Haven Game Tailgates, from the Harvard Crimson.

Daily Bruin: "Nearly a month after she was allegedly assaulted by Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, freelance journalist Rachel Neuwirth filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court Thursday against Seidler-Feller and UCLA Hillel.

...The lawsuit is the result of an incident that occurred on Oct. 21 between UCLA Hillel's director and Neuwirth, 53, following a presentation in Royce Hall by Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz.

Police reports state Seidler-Feller allegedly kicked and grabbed the wrist of Neuwirth. Eyewitnesses also said Neuwirth called Seidler-Feller a 'capo' – a derogatory term for Jews who collaborated with the Nazis – at some point during the incident..."

From the Power Players column in The Washingtonian, by Kim Eisler. There's a lot of items to scroll through, so I don't think they'll mind if I just quote the whole thing:

Lawyer Gets Big College $$$
Washington superlawyer Robert Barnett already is the attorney of choice for the politicians and media heavyweights seeking to write books.

In his stable are reporters like Bob Woodward and Sam Donaldson and politician authors like Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, and Tom Daschle.

But if you want to ascribe “master of the universe” status to Barnett, look no farther than his role in placing clients into the top positions of the nation’s leading universities.

Barnett found former Health and Human Services secretary Donna Shalala her job as head of the University of Miami. He played a key role in negotiating the returnof former Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers to Harvard as president.

And it was Barnett who engineered the deal that was intended to put former NASA administrator Dan Goldin into the cockpit of Boston University.

When that deal fell apart at the last minute, Barnett negotiated a $1.8-million severance package for a job Goldin had never occupied for a day.

Boston University officials were anguished and embarrassed over the Goldin fiasco. Barnett? He pledged to have the newly rich Goldin relocated in no time.

[by way of romenesko]

This, from the State House News Service:

SPENDING ON PRISONS VERSUS HIGHER EDUCATION: For the first time, state spending on prisons and corrections exceeded state spending on public higher education in fiscal 2004, according to an analysis to be released Monday by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. The analysis looks back 35 years.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation's website is here.

[l to r: reporter Dan Rea, former UMass president and Massachusetts senate president William Bulger, and UMass Boston Chancellor Jo Ann Gora]

AP: "A House committee concluded Thursday that the FBI shielded from prosecution known killers and other criminals that it used as informants to investigate organized crime in New England...

...The panel also concluded there is not enough evidence to find that former University of Massachusetts President William Bulger used his political authority to punish those who investigated his brother, mob boss James 'Whitey' Bulger, who is sought in connection with 21 murders..."

MORE: The Globe, in its fifth and six grafs: "The report also states that the committee failed to substantiate allegations that one of the probe's key witnesses, former Senate president William M. Bulger, received any favors from the FBI or used his power to punish those who investigated his informant brother, South Boston underworld boss James 'Whitey' Bulger.

It does, however, allege that some of William Bulger's testimony before the committee was inconsistent with the testimony of other witnesses...

...'This is an exoneration,' William Bulger's attorney, Thomas Kiley, said yesterday. 'This report gives the lie to all of the street legends that people have passed along forever.'

Kiley called it unfortunate that the committee spent so much time pursuing his client that it may have distracted them from their legitimate inquiry into FBI wrongdoing.

The Boston Herald had a separate article.

SEE ALSO: Lax security found at many college labs -- "Government investigators found widespread potential for bioterrorism mischief at many college laboratories funded by the Agriculture Department, including an unlocked freezer supervised only by a college lecturer and containing a biological agent for a plague more severe than the Black Death..." according to the AP wires.

Ammo for those who oppose BU's bioterror lab.

"Amid calls for accountability for his role in the theft of 4,000 copies of the Justice, Class of 2004 Senator Mark Brescia resigned at the Union Senate meeting Sunday..."

The editorial on it.

Steve Silver, who was down at Brandeis earlier this week, comments.

Daniel Pipes comes to a campus, adding to the tumultuous nature of the entire semester. Jawsblog's Josh, a fan of Pipes, is on top of it.

Letters to the editor come in. As does a column.

Daily Free Press: "Boston University’s freeze on faculty salaries could end as early as January, President ad interim Aram V. Chobanian announced during a speech to the Faculty Assembly at their fall semester meeting Wednesday..."

SEE ALSO: "Presidential hopeful John Kerry will speak at Boston University on Dec. 2 to reveal a new major policy, the president of BU for Kerry announced Wednesday at a campus appearance by Kerry’s daughter," from Ryan Bersani.

And an editorial on Beantown Notes, the class note-taking service that's getting sued by the university.

"A bill calling for a tuition increase of no more than $256 (2 percent) per semester next year was passed overwhelmingly by the Student Government Association Thursday. The bill also included a total of 10 requests that would widely change the shape of academics at the university," writes Steve Babcock for Northeastern News.

"The Sense of the Senate, as such requests to the administration are known, passed 67-2 and represents the first-ever inclusion of students into the university's annual budget debate..."

After a very, very long summer hiatus, Emerson College's Berkeley Beacon is back online.

Articles include the university president meeting with the SGA; Dem presidential candidate Carol Mosely-Braun's appearance at Harvard; and the university is looking anti-plagiarism software.

Ledger Inquirer: "Hours after Columbus State University students learned last week that a 19-year-old woman had been raped on a campus street more than six weeks earlier, the victim of that assault met with a university newspaper reporter..."

[via romenesko]

The Brown Daily Herald's Dana Goldstein writes about Hampton U's trashing of its student newspaper.

And Romenesko points us to this: "Hampton University Provost and Acting President JoAnn Haysbert has reacted to the cancellation of the American Society of Newspaper Editors' high school journalism program on that campus with a statement that shows no indication that she considers her Oct. 22 confiscation of the student newspaper to be wrong," writes Richard Prince of the Maynard Institute.

"A professor’s use of the phrase 'six n***ers in a woodpile' has left many up in arms, and the confusion over why she used it appears to be matched only by the confusion surrounding exactly what the phrase means..." writes Stephen Singerman for the Emory Wheel.

Above edited.

Critical Mass has that and more.

Harvard Law School faculty members are considering filing a suit against the Department of Defense over the constitutionality of the 1995 Solomon Amendment, which forces law schools to give military recruiters equal access to their students, Harvard professors said Wednesday, reports the Yale Daily.

MORE: Volokh's David Bernstein has a guest column in the Harvard Record, Harvard Law's independent school newspaper.

Several Yale student organizations write a letter to the editor urging the president to stand behind the lawsuit.

Stanford Daily reports that Stanford's vice provost might not be able to take over a city council seat due to an obscure state law.

Daily Cali: Against the backdrop of hundreds of student protesters, the UC Board of Regents mulled what may be another impossible budget year with a projected $1.8 billion shortfall.

The dismal budget forecast will likely translate into higher student fees and enrollment caps.

But without any clear indication of what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal will hold, the regents could only discuss priorities and a few possible solutions to make up for another major drop in state funding next year...

And the Daily Bruin has several articles as well.

No apostrophes in the print edition yet again.

Campus shutdowns are all set to go.

Senator calls state of the state "grim."

More Rock the Vote discontent: two students speak up.

Oddly enough, an opinion column from a September Daily Collegian reprinted this week, dealing with MassPIRG, also known as the Issue That Won't Die.

A former editor-in-chief writes in to praise the paper and the new cartoonist.

***No paper next week, 'cause of Thanksgiving. We return for two issues in the first weeks of December, before departing again to return in the last weeks in January.

During that time, The Mass Media, and several other student organizations, will be moving into their new digs in the Campus Center.

Felled by the flu this week.

Didn't recover as quick as I thought I would.

And it's already started to move onto the rest of the family.

More blogging later in the week when I'm back to full strength.

If anybody's picking up the print edition, don't be freaked out by the total lack of apostrophes.

University Gears Up For Self-Study, Accreditation, by yours truly.

Senate Notes: Resolution Against HB 2400 Passes. The senate president, last I heard, has yet to veto it, and if he does, it will have to go back to the full senate. All this back and forth, back and forth...

Nick of Duck Season has comments and questions on it.

More MassPIRG stuff: A student senator takes issue with the last two weeks worth of Senate Notes.

The joint education committee at the Massachusetts Statehouse, which is considering 2400, will not vote on it next week. I just called the offices less than an hour ago, and while they are meeting next week, Tuesday at 1pm, they won't vote on 2400.

And, finally, the News Briefs column.

Suffolk Journal editor-in-chief Chris Dwyer comes to some interesting conclusions after a weekend at Dallas for the Associate Collegiate Press award show:

"Writing a weekly column, reviewing a horror movie or even reporting on a car accident - it's all the same, it's art, baby. For us here at the Suffolk Journal, putting out each newspaper is like releasing an album every week, an album that touches upon varied aspects of society..."

I was searching around for this quote for something else, but thought I'd post it up here as well:

"I was happy when I was all alone -- and it was very late at night, and I was walking up the hill after having helped put The Sun to bed.

All the other university people, teachers and students alike, were asleep. They had been playing games all day long with what was known about real life. They had been repeating famous arguments and experiments, and asking one another the sorts of hard questions real life would be asking by and by.

We on The Sun were already in the midst of real life. By God, if we weren't! We had just designed and written and caused to be manufactured yet another morning newspaper for a highly intelligent American community of respectable size -- yes, and not during the Harding administration, either, but during 1940, 1941 and 1942, with the Great Depression ending, and with World War II well begun..."
-Kurt Vonnegut, on his times at the Cornell Sun at Cornell University

A student senator at Brandeis University has been accused of stealing several thousand copies of this week's issue of the Justice, the student newspaper.

Brandeis Justice writer Igor Pedan, who was quoted in the last Globe article on the racial remark controversy, writes in to say that it was a student senator who did the deed.

"I see you picked up on the thefts of our paper," Pedan said. The missing Justices were discovered in Student Senator Mark Brescia '04's suite. "He had no apparent reason to do so except that he was apparently upset with the Justice for something."

Pedan notes the irony in the fact that Brescia was one of the people against the Justice during the Passner racial remark controversy, during the student senate meeting that lasted into the night.

His AIM (PyRoMeNaCe) away message gave it away, reading: "I took every single copy of the Justice, University PD just took them all back, it was good for a days laugh." I got sent a screenshot that confirms this.

"The Justice is probably going to press charges... we are meeting with Brandeis officials about it today. The paper will definitely press University Judicial Conduct charges," Pedan said, adding, "The senate will try to impeach him on Sunday."

MORE/EDIT: I edited the title after thinking that an "innocent until proven guilty" tack should be taken, and fixed in the post where it was found.

Jawsblog also has more, including an e-mail someone sent him: "Many of you know that this week 4,000 copies of the Justice were stolen. Mark Brescia, senator to the senior class, has admitted full responsibility for the theft. While disciplinary action will no doubt be taken against this student, we must first take action as a community. This individual has no place representing us to the Student Union. I hope you will agree with us that it is an insult to allow this thief to remain in office. As this Senator has refused to resign, we must insist upon his removal..."

""Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean is offering a plan to provide college students with $10,000 a year in federal financial aid as part of his $7.1 billion higher education program...""

SEE ALSO: Andrew Nixon, a part-time visiting lecturer at UMass Dartmouth, writes an editorial in yesterday's Globe about the university's addiction to part-time faculty. (Invisible Adjunct has something up on that.)

And this from today's edition: "The state Department of Public Health said it is investigating the nature of the doctoral degree awarded to the veteran head of the agency's laboratory, which Ralph Timperi said he has since renounced and removed mention of it from his web page last Monday..."

Seymour Hersh visits Tufts University:

On the current situation in Iraq, Hersh said "it's a mafia economy on the street level. That's way below the level of our operations." Hersh spoke of riding gangs and oil being smuggled in from Turkey. "It's worse every day, we are basically nowhere." He also pointed to the potential danger of leaving US troops in Iraq. "In the army, the only thing that matters is loyalty to your fellow soldiers."

RELATED: A Slate writer apologizes to Hersh.

[via romenesko]

Daily Free Press columnist Amy Horowitz has a really nice column, comparing a Boston Globe meeting of editors with a Daily Free Press meeting of editors.

MORE: "Students must take action to effect change in Trustees", writes an '84 alumnus.

"Five Boston University Board of Trustees members will join board Vice Chairman Dexter Dodge on a now fully formed committee to examine the efficiency of the board in making decisions for the future of BU, especially concerning the presidential search..." writes Ida Ziniti.

Rebel Yell columnist Alexander Marriott is back with a new column, and recounts the recent roller-coaster ride that garnered the college national media attention:

"What has taken place over the last few weeks was partly the doing of certain professors and authors who thought it would be fun to try to ruin the career of a student opinion writer, namely me, because they didn't agree with his views and were apparently unable to rationally argue why. Fortunately for me they failed for a rather obvious and simple reason - they were wrong..."

Someone sends a letter to the Stanford Daily's Answer Boy:

"Yo Answer Boy, Why’s The Daily got to be so hatemongering? I’ve seen these so-called “Campus Truth” ads, and they ain’t nothin’ but a negative generalization of the Palestinian people. That’s not cool."

Answer Boy answers: "You seem like a smart kid. Unless you have a serious eye defect like glaucoma, conjunctivitis or macular degeneration, I’m sure that you caught the disclaimer at the bottom of the campustruth.org ad yesterday, noting that it does not necessarily reflect the views of anyone at The Daily. This, in legalese, is a “save-my-ass-from-controversy” clause. Obviously, it didn’t work..."

MORE: Stanford Daily letters page.

And in the Yale Daily News' letters pages.

"The Student Government Association threw its hat into the debate over the 2004-05 budget for the first time in Northeastern history Thursday when it introduced legislation that calls for a number of academic improvements to be instated with tuition increase..." writes Northeastern News' Steve Babcock.

Ari Strait has more.

HAMPTON -- Three weeks after the Hampton University administration confiscated an edition of the student newspaper, the American Society of Newspaper Editors announced Tuesday that it was pulling funds from the university...

MORE: Mass Daily Collegian has an editorial: "The Hampton University situation serves as a strong reminder that attempts to censor the press - particularly, the student press - are alive and well. The ASNE should be praised for standing by their journalistic beliefs, beliefs that The Collegian also holds steadfast..."

[via romenesko]

Questions continue about CNN/Rock The Vote questions.

Jim Gilliam, who writes a blog, sent this into Romenesko:

"I sent in the text message "Would u reinst8 draft?" The debate was the same day that I read the Salon article about filling draft board vacancies. I deliberately sent it so it looked like a text message in the hopes it would be asked. It worked! I only saw portions of the debate - I was working - so I didn't know it aired until I noticed the traffic from Poynter coming to my blog..."

More over at Romenesko Letters.

The famed media industry blog also directs us to a Brown Daily Herald (where it first broke, in its letters pages) article.

Boston Phoenix's Dan Kennedy also has comments on his Media Log (second item).

MORE: It was on Jay Leno tonight, according to the Brown Daily Jolt forums.

So says Josh. And updates previous post.

Dahlia knows who did it.

Steve Silver recounts a similiar incident that happened several years ago to a right-wing magazine Freedom (and two thousand got stolen in '93, it looks like). He'll be down at Brandeis on Monday.

Jawsblog's Josh: "The Justice wasn't on campus this evening (as it usually is)--and according to one source: 'Between 3 and 4 p.m. today 4,000 copies of the justice were stolen'..."

It doesn't appear to be race-related, he says.

They always forget that there's an online version. So they're not smart thieves, whoever they are.

MORE: Dahlia of Sporadic Thoughts confirms it as well.

Of notable things this week, there's a Brandeis staff member (and a former student newspaper staffer) commenting on the Justice controversy.

A forum on the n-word was held.

Yana Litovsky, who penned an good peice last issue (or was it the issue before?) on the controversy, has something this week, too, indirectly mentioning it: "Be it a Senate meeting or politically-charged strife between a student group and a newspaper, we are bound to get carried away with highfalutin' words and overzealous actions. And while we have an investment in the integrity of our organizations and their contribution to the community, so much of the political minutia that trips us up is only practice for a much more convoluted and political world than the one we've engendered. So in this petri dish of budding bureaucracy, let's indulge in an occasional disembodiment from our self-important selves: We can all use a good laugh..."

Spent the rest of the day visiting friends at UMass Lowell, and taking in a hockey game of UML against Bentley. (UML won 5-2.)

I've never taken the commuter rail before, and it wasn't too bad.

And I managed to grab a copy of the Connector, the campus's weekly student newspaper.

Back to work tomorrow, of course. Hope everyone had an enjoyable Veterans Day.

From the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz: "CNN spokesman Matthew Furman said, 'In an attempt to encourage a lighthearted moment in this debate, a CNN producer working with Ms. Trustman clearly went too far. CNN regrets the producer's actions...'"

LATIMES article on it here.

[via drudge]

"An ISU student was recognized nationally for his outstanding reporting skills in a five-part narrative series that profiled the life and death of former ISU student Danny Peterson," writes Jolene Hull for the Iowa Daily.

The award-winning articles here, here, here, here, and here.

UPDATE: The awards announced and a press release from the Student Press Law Center.

[via romenesko]

"The UC Berkeley lecturer jailed in Iran for the past four months was released on $250,000 bail yesterday and remains in his family’s home in Tehran, a colleague and friend said," writes The Daily Cal's Emma Schwartz.

"While Dariush Zahedi, 37, is free to leave Iran, he may still face a trial because the Iranian judiciary has yet to clear him of espionage charges, said Rutgers University professor Hooshang Amir-Ahmadi, who spoke with Zahedi on the phone after his release..."

Writes Mike Travis for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian: "Chancellor John V. Lombardi remains confident in his pursuit to provide a better student life, excellence in teaching and research, and to remain nationally competitive.

Although everyone expects a flagship university to provide excellent teaching, fine student programs and activities, and the other attributes of an effective undergraduate experience, research quality and productivity identify a campus as belonging among higher education's top institutions..."

"While tuition costs keep on rising, so do the salaries of college presidents.

A survey of college presidential salaries revealed Monday that the compensation packages given the leaders of four private universities last year topped $800,000..."

The Invisible Adjunct has more.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has the stats.

The new editor of the Sierra College Outlook, recently rocked by a controversy after a columnist wrote about how the college's girls aren't hot, wants to move on.

[via romenesko]

In the letters pages, two people write in to criticize the newspaper for printing the ad.

David Bernstein of the Volokh Conspiracy comments some more on it. Matt Yglesias responds.

MORE: Crooked Timber has something as well.

EVEN MORE: The Yale Daily News is also catching flak in its letters pages.

SEE ALSO: In the Unrelated, But Cool File is "Simpsons writers discuss satire on TV," by the Stanford Daily's Ann Chin.

A reader from Brandeis sends these links along: The University of Chicago's student newspaper, the Chicago Maroon, picks up the controversy in its editorial pages, in an editorial and column.

Comments Jawsblog's Josh, "Well fortunately, the whole Justice mess seems to have died down once and for all. All that's probably left of it is to see how the Justice is able to recover from the loss in staff."

Duck Season's Nick points us to the ongoing saga of a UNC-Wilmington professor who allegedly said she had ties to terrorists. The professor first tried to sue the school newspaper for libel, but it looks like it didn't take, according to TownHall.com columnist and UNC-Wilmington Mike Adams.

Alexandra Trustman, who gave Democratic candidates the PC or Mac question at the Rock The Vote debate in Boston last week, explains the process:

"Once in Boston I was handed a note card with the Macs or PCs version of Clinton's boxers or briefs question. After reading it, I told the executive producer that I didn't see the question's relevance and had thought of one that I would like to ask instead. He took a look at my question and told me I couldn't ask it because it wasn't light−hearted enough and they wanted to modulate the event with various types of questions — mine was to be one of the questions on the less serious side. The show's host wanted the Macs or PCs question asked, not because he was wondering about the candidates' views of technology, but because he thought it would be a good opportunity for the candidates to relate to a younger audience — hence the 18− to 31−year−old audience of Rock the Vote. At this point it was clear to me that the question would be asked regardless of whether I was the person to ask it. I had to make the decision whether to actively participate in Rock the Vote by asking a question that wasn't mine and wasn't representative of me as a Brown student, or to sit in the stands uninvolved..."

[via romenesko]

Well, I'm crossing my fingers on that. Last week there were twenty things going on at the same time, and the roller-coaster didn't stop until Friday. And then I had the Temple U. friend who came down for the weekend. She left this afternoon at 1:30, after we all walked her into Chinatown.

One thing I'd like to note: the change in e-mail address that you can contact the blog at:

cpnblog@yahoo.com

The gin@the-mass-media.com address still works, but the e-mails for the blog (on top of the other stuff that I'm sent regarding the newspaper) are starting to strain the limits of that account.

Road to BU crisis leads back to trustees, writes Marcella Bombardieri for the Globe.

Campus Insider: BU interim prez approves inauguration holiday; two of the Romney-appointed trustees haven't shown up to the first UMass Board meeting last week (sidenote: I'm told that Romney will be meeting with the trustees November 17; I might get to tag along - more details when I get them); small summary of judge's opinion to let Solomon Amendment case move forward; journalist and Harvard fellow Ellen Hume at UMass Boston. (see University Reporter profile from October, and the project she's working on.)

Duck Season's Nick comments on an article in this week's Mass Media.

The Globe's Ideas section asks: Does federal financial aid simply give colleges an excuse to raise tuition higher and faster than they otherwise would? (unrelated, but cool nonetheless: interview with writer Michael Moorcock)

More on financial aid from the Invisible Adjunct.

State House News: Those interested in succeeding William Bulger as president of the University of Massachusetts have been instructed to apply by Nov. 15. A 20-person presidential search committee is co-chaired by two university alumna, Boston attorney Diane Bissonette Moes and Raytheon executive Dennis Austin. Ads announcing the search have already run and applicants have been invited to send resumes to a Dallas search firm engaged to conduct the search. Trustees hope to have a new president on board by next fall.

Matthew Yglesias and David Bernstein for Volokh talk about the Stanford Daily's printing of a controversial ad.

How Appealing on the Solomon Amendment cases being ruled to continue.

Newsday: Colleges fined for environmental violations. (via volokh)

Peter Reuell for the Milford Daily News: "College campuses have long been considered a hotbed of political activism, a place where energetic young minds collide with new ideals and causes... So why, then, do most college students say they don't care about politics?"

UMass Dartmouth cops train to spot rape drug, in today's Herald.

Both Steve Silver and Jawsblog's Josh linked to a letter to the editor of the Waltham News Tribune, which someone alerted to me a while back but I never got a chance to blog.

Recently reinstated Rebel Yell columnist Alexander Marriott instant messaged Campus Press Notes earlier this evening. What follows is most of what was said.

For those who would like to catch up to speed on the issue, here is where some of it started, kept rolling here, an editor resigned here, and then the latest here.

JohnGaltisAlex: Hello, you have a nice blog by the way, very informative
Masked Mouse: Ah, thanks. I'm posting stuff right now, actually.
Masked Mouse: Thanks for the e-mail.
Masked Mouse: [Rebel Yell hasn't] put up a new issue since?
Masked Mouse: All I found was the retraction.
JohnGaltisAlex: that was the last issue, it came out on the 5th, next issue comes out on the 10th
JohnGaltisAlex: though more people are falling out of the staff
Masked Mouse: Really? Fallout from the scandal?
JohnGaltisAlex: You could say that, the Opinion Editor defended me during this, but her section was used without her knowledge to put some anti-me propaganda in there on the 27th of Octoberm which is why the Editor-in-Chief was going to be fired by the Yell advisory board, hence she resigned
JohnGaltisAlex: an opinion writer supportive to me resigned out of disgust before that
Masked Mouse: So the Editor in Chief pulled a Nixon?
JohnGaltisAlex: and the Opinion Editor quit today because she could no longer stand working with several people who were responsible for my situation, namely the Managing Editor and the Sports Editor, yes, she did, she would have been fired on the 3rd if she hadn't resigned
Masked Mouse: Wow.
JohnGaltisAlex: this will continue to blow apart until those two at least are gone, which could happen at any time
Masked Mouse: And the Review Journal has been covering this?
JohnGaltisAlex: but the board can only fire or hir the Editor-in-Chief
JohnGaltisAlex: Yes, they started following it when the papers got trashed and have been following hit fairly heavily after I got fired
JohnGaltisAlex: it*
JohnGaltisAlex: every paper in the city is following it in some way or another
Masked Mouse: Ah, I see yesterday's edition had something.
JohnGaltisAlex: helps that a local radio show has been supportive of me and has had me on a couple of times
Masked Mouse: And the school?
Masked Mouse: Administration? Other students?
JohnGaltisAlex: the school officially has done nothing, other students that I've talked to have been largely supportive
Masked Mouse: Are there going to be enough people to put out the paper after this?
JohnGaltisAlex: some have argued with me about the original article but I haven't talked to anyone who thinks the whole firing episode was legitimate.
JohnGaltisAlex: the Managing Editor just takes over the posts that come up vacant, I think they'll limp out the rest of the semester
Masked Mouse: Until the next round of people show up to work.
JohnGaltisAlex: assuming the whole editorial staff, that's left, isn't dismissed next week
JohnGaltisAlex: some sort of sexual harrassment scandal
Masked Mouse: Good god.
JohnGaltisAlex: lol, I know, it's a mess
JohnGaltisAlex: plus the university got some nation wide bad press with John Leo's column
Masked Mouse: I didn't hear of this.
Masked Mouse: What was that about?
JohnGaltisAlex: US News and World Report, he gives out awards to college presidents who look the other way when free speech is stifled on campus, he mentioned me and the University president, Carol Harter
Masked Mouse: Ha. That must have reflected great on the u.
JohnGaltisAlex: also appeared in the New York Daily News, and Jewish World Review I think
JohnGaltisAlex: I'm sure they don't appreciate it, but oh well
JohnGaltisAlex: I plan to file a complaint against a member of the faculty for purposely targeting me next week
Masked Mouse: What happened on that end?
JohnGaltisAlex: well Cathy Scott, www.cathyscott.com, is a part-time teacher at UNLV's journalism department and I guess the former EIC went to her for advice rather than the person the advisory board pays to give advice as to what to do about me. so not only did she embolden the libelous actions of the EIC but she made herself available for public comment and told the RJ that my article was "too advanced" for a college student and that Dr. Berliner cleared me because he was "flattered" that he and I have the same ideas, therefore he doesn't mind if I steal his stuff
Masked Mouse: Ah, she's the one who got the plagiarism accusation ball rolling.
JohnGaltisAlex: I think she clearly abused her position by inserting herself into a matter where she had no business and publicly supporting what are now universally considered bogus charges
JohnGaltisAlex: she is one of the people, whoever else was involved won't admit to it, but it's someone in the English department I think, I've also heard about someone in the history department who may have been involved, but she is the only one to make herlsef publicly known
JohnGaltisAlex: herself*
Masked Mouse: And you're filing the complaint with Academic Affairs?
JohnGaltisAlex: I was just going to go down to the Journalism department and file it there, she's ruffled some feathers there because she was essentially trying to usurp the advisory position for herself

Remember the University of Nevada-Las Vegas student who wrote a controversial Christopher Columbus article?

I was looking at your website and thought I'd correct something for you. I never resigned my post at the Rebel Yell, I was called on the night of October 20, 2003 and was told I had plagiarized and informed that I was fired. Also, after the Editor-in-Chief resigned the paper apologized and retracted their allegations publicly and also publicly announced that I had been reinstated to my job. Thanks.

Alexander Marriott

Rebel Yell Retraction:

"A column by Rebel Yell columnist Alexander Marriott on Sept. 29 entitled 'Christopher Colombus, We Salute You' was not plagiarized. Mr. Marriott has been reinstated to his position as staff columnist on the Rebel Yell. We apologize to Mr. Marriott for all inaccurate characterizations of his writing..."

Here's an article from the Las Vegas Review Journal: "UNLV's student newspaper has apologized to newly reinstated columnist Alexander Marriott for its allegation that he committed plagiarism..."

This column by US News and World Report's John Leo gives the university a Sheldon because of it.

Be on the look out for an impromptu online conversation with Alexander Marriot himself, to be posted later tonight/early tomorrow morning.

Duck Season's Nick Favorito sends this along:

HEIL, DUBYA: A recent Harvard poll found that today's college students are more likely to register as Republicans and support President Bush than even the general public, but apparently there are those who disagree. As a recent column in the Massachusetts Daily Collegian puts it: "Dubya is one of the single most evil men roaming free right now, a man whose deviousness and maliciousness is equaled by only a few. Bush is a creature on the same level as bin Laden or, more appropriately, Hitler. . . . This man and his cronies--his 21st century version of the Third Reich--should be held accountable for the atrocities that they have inflicted." A budding Michael Moore?

Here is the original article.

Take a gander.

Vice Chancellor Outlines Plans To Change Entire Culture.

(Student) Senate Notes, which is generating a bit of controversy this week. More on that later.

News Briefs: Alma Mater Is Rapper's Delight.

The Crimson: "Massachusetts Gov. W. Mitt Romney outlined the ins and outs of campaigning before a packed Kirkland Junior Common Room yesterday, saying that the key to a successful campaign is defining yourself as a politician before other candidates can do it for you..."

"Boston University students should be more involved with their university, President ad interim Aram V. Chobanian said Wednesday, adding that getting students’ comments and complaints will be one of his main goals..." writes Patrick Gillooly for the Daily Free Press.

"The fear of the unknown was weighing down on the shoulders of many high school students. It was the fork in the road, asking who they would become and how they would get there. A simple piece of stationary held the fate of future education in its printed words. It was the day of the college acceptance letter...." by Erika Lovley, Collegian Staff.

Here's the Globe article, by Emily Sweeney.

And it looks like the greater controversies are not over. Jawsblog's Josh is reporting that controversial commentator Daniel Pipes is coming to campus. "This story is really going to develop..." he writes, as students groups are gearing up to protest.

So, yes, I managed to get into Rock The Vote on Tuesday night.

I didn't expect to, thinking that I was going to have to skirt the fringes of the bar-parties that were going on in the area, but the woman at the front desk was kind enough to issue press credentials to me, and I walked into the press room to join The Mass Media's news editor, Carl, who had been there since the early afternoon.

The pressroom was held in The Comedy Connection. Inside, each mini-table had a scrap of paper taped to it with the news organization's name and the correspondent who was going to be sitting there that night. I was early, and the room was nearly empty, so I walked around, checking out who was sitting where. So many, many people, some from newspapers I've never even heard of, like "The Asahi Shimbau."

While I was sitting with Carl (who, by the way, was able to get the file a story on it for the MetroWest Daily News), waiting for Kathleen McCaffrey to come and take her seat from me, Time's Joe Klein and CNN's Judy Woodruff were standing not even a foot away, talking about (what else?)politics. I'll admit I was a little in awe. I mean, that was Joe Klein up there. Later, he took to the stage in the spin room to give his analysis of the debate with Candy Crowley.

I overheard Woodruff tell another reporter that she was there only as a "watcher," and that it was Anderson Cooper's night.

Carl and I met Cooper after the debate, in the spin room, after the press and the candidates had cleared out. There were a few stragglers here and there. Cooper was talking with people, taking pictures with them in front of the CNN CNN CNN CNN wall. We spoke with him for a short bit, and he seems like a really cool guy. He said he had a really great time, and told of how it was his first time moderating.

The spin room (held right across the atrium from the Comedy Connection) was an absolute madhouse after the debate. Right in front of the doors, a bank of cameras was set up, as if meaning to lay in wait (like tigers burning bright, perhaps?). When John Edwards walked in, he saw them, and with his eyes wide open in surprise, he mouthed, "Oh my God."

When Sharpton came in, a small group broke off to follow him.

It was when Dean walked in that I almost got crushed. I was two feet away, and couldn't hear a word he was saying. I was also concentrating on not getting hit in the head by the cameraguyas he, with his back to me, moved about.

I can't explain how odd and fantastic it felt to see on the big screen that was up in the spin room, Joe Klein and Candy Crowley doing their stand-up, and then look at the other side of the room, and there they were, in the flesh.

Other highlights:

-When John Kerry mentioned that he had seen a poll that had him 15 points ahead of Hillary Clinton, a lone cry came from one corner of the pressroom: "Where?!"

-John Friedman of the Nation, sitting down to take his place one seat over from The Mass Media. Upon finding out we were college students, he quizzed us on the recent Harvard poll put out that said most college students supported Bush and were conservative. He appeared to be truly puzzled and concerned about it.

-All the campaign aides (the Kucinich kids actually camped out in the press room) were rushing press releases that still felt warm in your hands.

-When CNN people came by after a quarter of the debate was over to hand out transcripts of what had just been played, my back corner all looked at the transcript, the notes we had been furiously scribbling (or writing on laptops), then to each other, before saying, "Well, screw this."

The collegiate press was well represented: I spotted The Harvard Crimson, Northeastern News, Daily Free Press, The Comment, the Tufts Daily, Suffolk Journal, BC Heights, and the Berkeley Beacon.

With the exception of The Mass Media, all the college papers were in the back of the room. I hung out there with the Harvard Crimson and Tufts Daily for most of the debate.

Earlier, I spoke with Bridgewater State's Comment. And the BC Heights guys, who were cool. One of the BC Heights reporters and I both agreed: we felt like small fish in a big pond, and were just totally stunned at how cool it was to be here surrounded by the people like Klein and all the rest. They mentioned their big story right now is the college getting sued over the sports thing, and nothing new on the Massachusetts State Police denying them press badges.

Rundown of the big media:

The New York Times ' Adam Nagourney. The Boston Globe's Sarah Schweitzer. The Boston Herald's David Guarino. The Washington Post 's Jim VandeHei. The New York Daily News' Helen Kennedy.

Full transcript up here.

Anyway. Back to studying for midterms.

Julianne Klimetz writes, "While a few parents said they did not fully understand the events, they did express confidence that the university will be able to move on quickly. However, they fear finding a permanent president will be more difficult following last week’s turmoil..."

Time to move on, says the editorial.

SEE ALSO: Tuesday's voter turnout was low at BU, reports Aaron Kellogg.

Kellogg then teams with Dennis Mayer to write about BU remembering John Silber.

MORE: The Harvard Crimson has a story and an editorial on the Goldin thing.

We received this a day or so ago. Phone number and other information have been taken off for obvious reasons:

From: Rebecca Wyatt [editor@oakpostonline.com]
Subject: Student Newspaper looking for moral support
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 13:30:08 -0500

I am writing you as editor in chief of The Oakland Post at Oakland University in Michigan.

I know there is no formal relationship between our newspapers but I am asking for a favor.

Our newspaper is in the fight of it’s life right now. We are fighting our administration on an open meetings act violation and as many of your know, it can be a daunting thing to be up against the university.

Last January, two other editors and myself stumbled upon a meeting of the Board of Trustees. When we tried to enter the room we were told it was closed. We sat outside the room and waited for the people inside to come out. They finally exited and were moving to a private luncheon. We counted six of the eight board members. That’s a quorum. The General Counsel and Secretary to the Board told another person waiting outside the door that it was a formal session to discuss state budget cuts and the effect on higher education appropriations.

We asked the board repeatedly to admit that it violated the state's open meeting act but it would not. Students on campus signed petitions asking the board to reaffirm its commitment to openness and it would not. We finally filed a lawsuit against the Board of Trustees.

It went to court in May. Our attorney, who does represent large media organizations in the area, was up against six attorneys hired by the university, some of who were friends with the judge.

We ended up loosing the lawsuit but the judge did acknowledge the board violated the act by having a close formal session. He just decided that the Board is not subject to the Open Meetings Act.

This ruling mean the Oakland University Board of Trustees is not accountable to anyone. Not the students who pay tuition, not the employees, not the taxpayers. It’s a scary situation and while our newspaper hasn’t decided for certain whether or not it will appeal the decision but the chances are very likely.

We are looking for moral support from our colleagues---or you. We are hoping to have at least 50 newspapers backing us and basically just giving us some moral support.

If you are interested in standing up and supporting another student-run newspaper who is fighting against the university please let me know. I will be more than willing to provide you with any more information you need to make a decision.

We will also be at the National College Media Convention this week in Dallas. I would be more than willing to talk with any of you about our situation. Just let me know in advance.

At times like these it’s important to have the backing of your peers. Hopefully, this time around, people will take notice of just how powerful a group of students can be.



Rebecca Wyatt
Editor In Chief
The Oakland Post
www.oakpostonline.com

MORE: Student Press Law Center has a press release.

A Black Table article answers some questions people (especially us college kids) may have on the Fung Wah bus service:

In Boston, Fung Wah's ticket "office" is really a table inside an Asian bakery where the ticket agent checks you off, then tells you to walk a few blocks away to get the bus.

I used it last year, right around this time, to down to Philadelphia. When my friend Dave and I saw that it was being used out of storefront, we looked at each other with eyebrows raised high.

Coincidentally enough, the friend I went down to visit is coming up this Friday via Fung Wah.

Thanks guys, but I'll stick to Amtrack for the time being.

[via gawker]

A Dorchester Reporter reader writes in about the new Campus Center being built, sprinkling in some history and description.

The Kollege Daily, a round-up of college newspaper stories...

Ah, the old college paper! The Harvard Crimson! The UCLA Bruin! The Daily Pennsylvanian! The University of North Arizona Lumberjack! From the largest state school in Florida to the smallest liberal arts school in Vermont, the campus newspaper is there: Promoting freedom of the press, freedom of speech, heralding change, denouncing injustice, exposing scandal and providing a needed platform for students to voice their opinions. Whether the story involves the lack of vegetarian options in the dining halls, debates over whether alumni funds should go toward a "student center" or a "student union", or mysterious cases of disappearing furniture from dorm lounges, the campus newspaper is there.

The future of our nation is writing. Are you listening?

Highlights include College Gossip Columnist Actually Wizened Whore; Used Condoms Found, Origins Unknown; and Plastic Surgery is False Advertising.

[via gawker]

Dan Passner writes an apology to the community. A letter of resignation from the sports editor. Jawsblog's Josh has those and more.

Steve Silver has comments as well.

Last night, after getting home from Rock the Vote in Boston (lots of cool stuff to be blogged later), I got instant messaged by a Brandeis alum (whose blog is here):

LilBucner: campus press report, you humble even the nation's great dead tree publications in bringin it to us straight up
Masked Mouse: Hahaha. Thanks, I guess.
LilBucner: no prob
LilBucner: i have been following the brandeis story with some interest ..... not enough to blog about it my self but i am a 'deis alum
LilBucner: never put much faith in the justice when i was there so i'm not about to start now
LilBucner: but if they ever wanted to hit me up for money as an alum, they've lost any shot they had
Masked Mouse: Wow. I didn't know that many people were reading it.
Masked Mouse: Hahaha. Brandeis I hear is in a bit of debt, too.
LilBucner: yeah
LilBucner: oy
LilBucner: they always claim that
Masked Mouse: All the more reason to take more money, I guess.
LilBucner: i think a good fundraiser, seeing as how brandeis is only 50 some years old, would be to start killing off the first alumni to get the money from their wills
LilBucner: steve silver was my roommate senior year at the 'deis
Masked Mouse: Ah. That's how you heard about it?
LilBucner: from him for the most part, and then i've been reading the blog coverage
LilBucner: then other 'deis alumni friends of mine, who are also alumni of the sketch comedy troupe, were intrigued by th story when they saw it in the boston globe
Masked Mouse: Globe has talked with the Justice again today (or was it yesterday?), I'm told.
Masked Mouse: So it looks like there's definitely gonna be another story.
LilBucner: so i heard about it from them, and all the while kept up on the links between steve, jawsblog ( a guy i don't know but know via the blogosphere ... you know how it is) and your blog
LilBucner: interesting
LilBucner: yeah, jehuda reinharz has always been a huge tool
Masked Mouse: I've never heard of him before, but this first impression didn't impress me.
LilBucner: my freshman year (95-96) the big breaking storyin the Jusitce was how the University spent $600K on remodeling the President's house ...
LilBucner: he has a renoir in the bathroom, from what i've heard
LilBucner: student senate always gets invited to dinner at the president's house so friends of mine reported on that. nice to know my tuition dollars were/are hard at work
LilBucner: meanwhile they don't care much for tenuring the good profs .... only big names
Masked Mouse: Excellent place for a painting. The bathroom.
Masked Mouse: The student senate gets invited to dinners?
LilBucner: apparently it couldn't be exposed to natural light
LilBucner: AFAIK, they get invited to one a year
LilBucner: it's a big PR thing (go fig)

SEE ALSO: "Brandeis' bid to host the 16 annual National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness (NSCAHH) Conference was rejected. Instead the conference concluded Sunday at Trinity College in Hartford, CT.," writes Igor Pedan for the Justice.

"According to Union Treasurer Andrei Khots '05, Brandeis' bid of $5,945.17 was not enough. Khots said that he received confirmation from Paul Adler '04 that the conference was not going to occur and that the money could go back to Union Senate."

At UMass B., Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MassPIRG) Club tried to go the conference, but the funding was vetoed by the student government president. An emergency meeting was called by the senate to override the veto. And after that and more last-minute scrambling-- they didn't get to go 'cause the driver got sick. Full story in this week's Mass Media, of course.